Homo sapiens sapiens: Evidence of a hunters' culture
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These artists' reconstructions depict the rugged hunting life of the ice-age Europeans of our species [often called Cro-Magnon after an early discovery site in France]. These early Europeans were able to adapt to the severe conditions of the ice age and compete with the largest carnivores for the most formidable prey animals of Eurasia. With the aid of their advanced cultural and technological resources, they were able to specialize and adapt to severe local conditions. Hunters living near the ice, like those depicted above right, followed the vast caribou or reindeer herds; hunters in Central and Eastern Europe lived a dangerous life hunting the Mammoth.

Homo sapiens sapiens sites present overwhelming evidence of pervasive cultural practices. The multiple burial from central Europe on the near right is 26,000 years old. The individual in the center of the burial had spinal scoliosis, an asymmetrical skull, and an under-developed right leg. The male on the left has a stake driven into his hip; a larger male on the far right lies face down. The male skulls were adorned with circles of arctic fox and wolf teeth and ivory bands.

The painting at far right reconstructs the burial of a mammoth hunter found at Predmosti in central Europe. Red ochre is being scattered over the grave, which will be covered with a mammoth's shoulder blade and tusks.

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